I'm probably going to do a dry January, maybe February as well. Feeling the need to change some things up, get a bit healthier. My goal for 2018 was basically just to survive, and alcohol served a major factor in helping accomplish that. My goal for 2019 is to not just survive, but actually make it a decent year.

That being said, I have a fair amount of booze to drink before 2019, so I best get to it!

Alright, so to share one of the bands I've enjoyed most the last two years (beyod the usual, I loved the last QotSA album but me loving QotSA is like saying water is wet) let me introduce you to Earthless. This is Black Heaven, their latest album released this year.

Played a soldier/infilitrator style. Sniper rifle at range, Valiant assault rifle modded with full auto just mowed things down when the distance closed. Occasionally broke out the Dhan shotgun for funsies. Mixed in a few tech powers for variety.

The story and characters don't quite live up to Bioware's usual standard, but the combat is so much fun.

Mother in Law was pancreatic cancer (second time having it, which was a death sentence. We were lucky she lived through the first round). Brother was metastatic melanoma - he'd had it for a year and was stable, but there's no real treatment for it (aside from cutting it out) and it was in multiple places in his brain. He just went from being okay to being dead in two weeks.

My family didn't really have cancer in our history until now. My wife's family has a history of pancreatic and stomach cancer, as well as a litany of autoimmune diseases which raise the risk for cancer. We're getting genetic testing done for everyone, just to see.

Details are still be worked out. There will be stores that sell it, regulated by the same agency that regulates liquor stores (not allowed to be sold in the same store though). People will be allowed to grow their own as well, max of 4 plants I think. Weirdly, I think they are waiting a year to allow for the legal sale of edibles - something about needing "additional research".

But, municipalities will be free to adjust the rules within certain limits, so rules will vary slightly from city to city. They won't be able to ban it outright, but might be able to force people to apply for permits to grow it, and ban consumption in public places. We'll see if all the bylaws will hold up to the inevitable court challenges.

Honestly, not much is going to change up here. I don't expect a lot of USA tourism, as I'm north of Washington (where it's already legal at the state level). Might actually have the opposite effect - I know the US border guards have started asking about marijuana usage, and hauling people in for questioning if they admit to ever using pot. That's likely to escalate, and it's not like American Border guards have a great respect for citizenship it seems. Papers please!

- 6 funerals in 6 months, including my mother-in-law (cancer), younger brother (cancer), grandmother (cancer) and some other relatives and friends.- Dealing with inheritance/splitting up property is shitty. No one feels good afterwards.- Middle daughter (10) is showing signs of Autism or OCD.

On the plus side:- Promotion! Finally landed a job that I had applied for two years ago, and was told I was unqualified. Wound up filling the role temporarily for 8 months this past year (there wasn't anyone else to do it) and convinced the higher ups I could do it. Not a huge pay increase (I work in government) but I'm enjoying the work more than my previous position.- New computer! It's niiiiiiiiiice. - Still Canadian

Mixed bag:- Prepping to go back to school in a year (Masters in Public Administration). Will be nice to go back to school, but it's mostly distance education done in the evenings, so it will be a bit brutal because I'll still be working full time.

Motherboard came on Friday, so I spent time on Saturday building. The Meshify C is great case to build in - smaller than my previous Antec case but really spacious with excellent cable management. Build went well, aside from the fact that I somehow reversed the polarity on the case power switch, so it wouldn't turn on. Figured that out, only to be stumped with the fact that my mouse and keyboard wouldn't work in the Windows setup (but worked in the BIOS). Finally got my keyboard to work, Windows install went really smoothly (seriously, Windows 10 install was the fastest and cleanest I've ever experienced). Drivers updated, some minor tweaking. Then it was time to take it for a spin.

Loaded up Witcher 3 and HOOOOOOOLLLLLYY SHHIIIIIIIITTTT. Ultra settings, with 60fps. Oh. My. God. I have been missing out.